


gift to me forever

by LonelyLavenderBones, OccasionallyCreative, TazWren, thewayofthetrashcompactor (BriarLily)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Forbidden Love, Force Bond (Star Wars), Happy Ending, Politics, Rey Palpatine, Senator Ben Solo, Star-crossed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23351506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyLavenderBones/pseuds/LonelyLavenderBones, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OccasionallyCreative/pseuds/OccasionallyCreative, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TazWren/pseuds/TazWren, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarLily/pseuds/thewayofthetrashcompactor
Summary: Palpatine has remained dead. Ben Solo followed in his mother’s footsteps and became the Senator of Chandrila, his mother training him in the Force instead of sending him to Luke.And, instead of being left on Jakku, Rey has been trained in the Force from childhood to help redeem the Palpatine name in the eyes of the galaxy's highest social circles.Now the princess of the ultimate Sith is due to make her debut, on the arm of her betrothed, Armitage Hux.But, the Force still has plans for Rey Palpatine and Ben Solo...
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 26
Kudos: 123
Collections: Reylo Round Robin





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there!
> 
> We're all really excited to share with our Round Robin fic, centred around the theme of "Forbidden Love".
> 
> As the entirety of this has been written, we'll be posting the first two chapters today, and the rest will be posted on a weekly basis.
> 
> Chapter 1: TazWren  
> Chapter 2: OccasionallyCreative  
> Chapter 3: briarlily  
> Chapter 4: smol soul (who doesn't have an AO3)  
> Chapter 5: LonelyLavenderBones

* * *

Rey lay under the covers, her ears straining as the sounds of a household winding down for the night came faintly through the heavy doors of her suite. Finally, silence blanketed everything, as even the cleaning droids whirred softly away to plug themselves in and power down. Still, Rey didn’t move. Instead, she let her senses creep out beyond her and test that everyone was indeed fast asleep. Then, slipping quietly from the bed, she dressed in the clothes she’d bundled under the frame earlier on. Moving quickly, though silently, she breathed a sigh of relief as she at long last pulled her favorite breeches on, smoothing them over her long legs, before shrugging on a tunic and the waistcoat that had made the journey to Hosnian Prime with her, folded away and hidden in her bags. 

As she fastened her pack with nimble fingers, she couldn’t help feel a pang of sorrow at doing things this way—stealing away in the middle of the night. Then, she steeled herself as she remembered why it had to be like this. 

Before the sadness could spiral in her, a faint scratching came at the window. Even though she’d been listening for it with half an ear, she couldn’t help the little jump her heart gave. Pulse thudding, she crept to the windows and pulled the heavy curtains aside. She smiled at the sight of the man hovering at the edge of the little balcony abutting her window. He made it look easy, as though floating in the air five stories about the ground was something he did every day. Maybe it was, considering how many times he’d come in that way. A thrill ran through her at the memories of the nights before and then she was unfastening the window to let him in. 

A quick embrace and she breathed in relief for the first time since that day as she settled against his broad chest. Rey let herself hold and be held for a moment more before she drew back to meet his eyes.

“Are you ready? Do you have everything you need?” His voice was a low murmur, barely loud enough to reach her ears, even pressed as close to him as she still was. 

She nodded and gestured to her pack, not trusting her voice as it caught in her throat. Scooping the bag up, he slung it over his shoulder and paused as the moonlight slid over them, illuminating both their faces. He must have seen something for he stepped close to her and cupped her face. 

“Are you still sure you want to do this, my love?” He breathed near her ear, making her shiver as his voice caressed her. 

Gripping his hands, she turned to press a kiss to his palm, holding his eyes the whole time. Again, she only nodded. She didn’t think she could put into words just how sure she was. He was the other half of her soul, they belonged together. Nothing was more clear.

His eyes softened and then he tilted his head towards the window through which he’d come in. “Then we should go. The freighter leaves in just over an hour.”

Rey nodded and gripped his hands a last time before releasing them. Then, taking one last look at the suite that had been her home for the past few months, she followed him over the lip of the little balcony, and clung to his back as he balanced them both on the hoverboard. 

As they sped over the sleeping city, it finally hit Rey how real this all was. She was eloping. With Ben Solo.

*** * * * ***

_Six months before_

“Don’t you think this is a little much? Do I _have_ to wear a dress?” Rey made a moue at her reflection in the mirror before meeting the eyes of the older woman behind her. 

Anga twitched a flounce on the sleeve before sighing in agreement. Stepping back, she gestured for Rey to change out of the over-frilled monstrosity masquerading as a ball gown. Surveying the other dresses that covered the bed, she pulled out a simpler one, a pale green that was barely embellished. Holding the fabric up to the light, Anga nodded to herself before calling over her shoulder. 

“Why don’t you try this one, Rey?”

Turning, she held the dress out and quirked a knowing eyebrow at the girl. Rey nodded and raised a hand towards her, letting her eyes slip closed. The dress lifted up from Anga’s outstretched arms and wafted over to Rey, hovering in the air before dropping abruptly right over her head. 

As her chagrined face emerged from the folds of fabric, Anga chuckled and shook her head. “Maybe next time, try that with your eyes open Rey. And also without any gesturing. The Force is both inside and all around you, it doesn’t need more than your mind to wield it.”

“Yes, Master,” her student said in a small voice, as her head hung. 

“I’ve told you not to call me that,” Anga frowned lightly before smoothing her features, “I’m not a Jedi and shouldn’t be addressed as such.”

Rey raised her eyes to her teacher, her tone mulish as she replied, “Father told me to always refer to you as ‘Master’ and I won’t disobey him. Besides,” she continued, grinning at Anga, her moment of mutiny passing as quickly as it came, “you were _trained_ by a Jedi and that counts.”

"An answer for everything? Maybe that will serve you well where you're going." Anga sighed as she let the point drop. 

And just like that, the mood sobered, as they both remembered what they were even doing with the dresses. 

Teaching Rey the feminine graces, something neither she nor her tutor had bothered with beyond the theoretical in the years that Anga had been with her. 

However, in a few months, Rey would turn eighteen and would finally be allowed to travel to join her parents. For ten years she'd lived in relative anonymity, on a quiet backwater planet where no-one knew that she was the only granddaughter of the last emperor. The emperor who had been deposed and executed after a grand struggle of galactic proportions that saw the end of an evil Empire. Now, her parents kept to Hosnian Prime, the center of the New Republic, hoping to cleanse the taint that clung to the name _Palpatine_ , even as they entrusted their daughter to the care of Anga Raz—one of the few to have survived the purge of the Jedi, subsequently found and trained by Master Cal Kestis, ostensibly one of the last few Jedi who remained. 

Sending Rey away to the Hapes Cluster, with only a simple service droid for company, they hoped to give her a chance at a normal childhood—where she could be trained to use her burgeoning powers, away from the critical and prejudiced eyes of the Capital—until the time came for her to be introduced to society.

"Come now, the sooner you try that dress on, the sooner we can begin teaching you to walk and dance in heeled shoes." Anga took Rey by the shoulders and gently pushed her towards the changing screen. 

"Can't I just lift rocks or do forms or something, instead?" Rey grumbled as she let herself be steered, "Those shoes are absolute murder. I can't believe women actually _like_ wearing them."

"Believe it or not, _you_ need to learn to be graceful in them. Oh, and by the way, your mother has said absolutely no breeches and boots when you go to the Capital." Anga gathered the discarded dress that had been tossed over the top of the partition, and ignored the squawk of protest that met her words. 

Rey stepped out from behind the screen, smoothing the dress over her slim hips as she did, looking down at herself and trying to peer over her back to see the fall of it. Her teacher said nothing while she made her way to the mirror. When Rey finally looked at herself, her eyes widened and she caught a breath. 

The green that Anga had picked out had a subtle glow to it, and it made her tanned limbs look burnished. The cut and fall of the fabric were simple and yet Rey had never looked or felt more elegant in all her young life. 

Her eyes found her teacher's in the glass, seeing both a quiet satisfaction and a sadness on her face. 

"Why are you sad?" Rey blurted, "This one isn't as bad as the last few ones."

Anga shook her head and forced a smile. "It's not that, Rey, you look beautiful in this dress. It's just… I could suddenly see you walking down the aisle, all grown up, and not the child I've known all along."

Rey whirled and strode forward, the dress whipping around legs that were very clearly still clad in breeches, despite what Anga had said. Gripping her Master's hands Rey peered into her face, "Please, come with me? You're the only one who knows me, and all this?" Rey waved a hand at the clothes and shoes and hats and coats and jewellery littering every surface, "I don't know what to do with all this. And as for walking down the aisle—" She choked off her words and looked away, shaking her head, blinking as sudden tears sprang to her eyes. 

"Oh, Rey," Anga sighed and lifted a hand to smooth her protégé's hair back, "You've known this was coming all your life."

Again Rey shook her head, drawing a shaky breath. No tears fell, but her voice was thick with them when she spoke, "I was a _child_ when we were betrothed, Master. I don't even _know_ him and I'm supposed to live my life with him?"

Her face was turned back with a firm but gentle grip. "The family is an old and a powerful one, my dear. They've seen empires fall and republics rise. They're exactly what your father and mother need to—" she broke off for a moment, closing her eyes before speaking again,"To keep you safe. No one will ever be able to touch you when you are the wife of Armitage Hux."

"But I don't even love him," Rey whispered, her eyes desolate. 

"Sometimes, Rey, love is not all its made out to be." Anga's mouth twisted wryly before she was blinking rapidly and stepping back, brushing non-existent creases out of her waistcoat. Turning, she grabbed a pair of shoes that had been kept ready and proferred them to Rey, her manner brisk.

"Anyhow, all that is worry for later. For now, you need to hold your head high at your very first ball. And one given by Senator Organa-Solo, no less. Let's get started. As soon as you strip out of those pants and put these heels on. Time's a-wasting." 

Her first ball. Her introduction to Hosnian Prime society. And held by the family responsible for the downfall and the death of her grandfather. The very people who could make or break how society now saw the Palpatines.

At that reminder, Rey blew a long breath out. Squaring her shoulders, she lifted her chin and took the shoes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Settled in Coruscant, Rey prepares for her society debut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 was written by OccasionallyCreative - part 3, coming next week, will be written by thewayofthetrashcompactor!

Rey stared into the mirror. It was responding to her nerves with the image of a stranger; a woman, that she always knew she would have to be, and it annoyed her.

She vaguely considered turning away from her reflection. But she couldn’t. She was somewhat frozen, stuck before her own image while she waited for the summons to the ball. Leia Organa’s personal protocol droid, C-3PO, was due to escort her. An honour not given to many. 

Stuck in the mirror, Rey settled her nerves—or rather, attempted to—with a sigh. The sound trembled in her throat, so she fiddled with the delicate pleats in her skirt. Her dressers at home, flushed with excitement, insisted she wear this to her first ball; the ‘thousand flowers’, one called it quite breathlessly. Rey could see why when she first put it on. 

With a satin skirt underneath, the dress was layers of cream and nude tulle and lace, with preserved flowers of a pink blush hue sewn into the fabric along with small crystals that made her every movement glimmer. The full-length sleeves tricked the eye into thinking she was soft, rather than strong like Anga had trained her to be. The bodice had a deep V that came to a point at the base of her breastbone, showing a subtle cleavage. Anga’s eyes had bulged a little at that when she first saw it. Rey knew its purpose. She was to make allies, but catch the eye of her betrothed at the same time. Femininity was the easiest path to achieving that latter task.

The skirt moved like a soft breeze around her feet as she approached the mirror, peering at the stranger before her. Her hair was down but delicately curled so it settled against her collarbone. Pins kept the side-swept look in place.

“Enough,” she said under her breath, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. 

“I can do this,” she told herself, fixing her reflection with a hard stare. She took another breath, firmer this time, as her left hand clenched around the tulle of her skirt. “I can do this.”

If it was up to her, her dress would be plain. Grey, even. She would attend the ball as she attended most things in her childhood. In practical clothing and hard boots, muddy from playing in the rain-soaked fields.

The doors to her chambers opened then, making her jump. Her handmaiden, Ellona, smiled as she entered. She paused, taking in Rey’s appearance.

“You look…” Ellona stopped, clearly hesitating, waiting for the correct word to jump into her head.

“You can say I look awful,” Rey said quickly, eager to show even Hosnian Prime’s servants that she was not like her grandfather. The effort her parents had put in rehabilitating the family name had not gone to waste, and while she was strong and trained well, she was also kind and spoke well to all.

She almost went with an ‘ _ I’m not my grandfather’ _ joke, but those sorts of jokes had never gone down well.

“Beautiful,” Ellona supplied finally. Her smile reached her eyes, and Rey breathed easier in her layers of tulle and satin. Ellona settled her hands in front of her, bowing her head. “Leia Organa’s droid has arrived to greet you, my lady.”

“Oh.” Every piece of Rey’s training melted away in the realisation that this was real. She, the heir of the Palpatine name, must rebuild its reputation. “Thank you, yes. I’ll just… go.”

She picked up her skirts, only stopping at the doors to slip on her heeled pumps, and hurried out to meet C-3PO.

Assembled from gold alloy, he looked like any other protocol droid, but his voice was different from that of any other protocol droid Rey knew. He had the air of an experienced butler recently employed to a new family, and he spoke with a unique fondness for humans, especially his mistress, Leia Organa. With him was another droid, an astromech called R2-D2.  _ Artoo for short _ , he bleeped helpfully at Rey as he rolled towards the turbolift. 

As they make the journey down towards the courtyard and the ship that will take them to Leia Organa’s apartments, it wasn’t difficult to see how long the two droids had known each other. They bickered but didn’t argue like her mother and father, and both droids were clearly fond of one another, even briefly conflicting over who should board first the Jeconne courier waiting for their party in the courtyard.

It was a stylish, modern ship that Leia Organa had hired for Rey’s transport to the ball. Republic City passed by in a smooth trickle of heavy traffic and high, twisting spires framing a sunset that blazed orange.

The sunset gave way to stars when the courier ship landed. Where they landed was a bustling crowd of other Jeconne couriers and passengers disembarking. Some knew each other immediately, embracing each other with the embraces of old friends. Others vaguely greeted each other with brief conversations and handshakes. Rey hung back, too aware of the dip in temperature. Cold fluttered over her skin under the thin full-length sleeves of her gown. 

It seemed fine enough in the quiet of her chambers. Perhaps extravagant, but fine enough. In the cool of the evening, she feels exposed and clumsy—nothing like the womanly strength she is meant to exude.

Someone, a face that passed quickly through the crowd, glanced at her with curiosity and that was enough to put ice in her veins. Her legs trembled, her breaths quickening.

“C-3PO,” she said, too quietly for him to hear at first. “Can I find some -- privacy, somewhere? Please?”

“My apologies, Miss Palpatine,”—the name poured frigid water over the ice—“but I do not have such information in my databanks. I can translate any language needed…”

_ The toilets are the first door on the left past the entrance _ beeped Artoo. C-3PO rounded on the astromech, lecturing him on decorum, but Rey darted through the crowd, slipping through the bodies and droids swarming into the venue.

They surely must’ve known of Rey Palpatine, heir to the house of Palpatine, but she’d grown up among servants and teachers, her image held back while her parents spent their years on Hosnian Prime, climbing the precarious ladder of society so their daughter could finally debut and show the Palpatines, finally, as a house of diplomacy, once tainted by a tyrant of madness but no longer.

Her face would be blasted across the media by tomorrow morning, once she had been announced. It’s a moment and a morning that she’d been in training for all of her life.

What no-one trained her for was the butterflies, the raw tearing nerves, that came with reforming a name still spoken with fear—if spoken at all.

Rey slammed the bathroom door behind her and hurried to the sink. The taps ran hot. The bathroom itself was lavish, a lesson in extravagance. It was situated so it was the women’s bathroom next to the men’s. The sinks stood in an entryway of sorts, with the toilets themselves hidden behind a heavy wooden door. 

Separating the two bathrooms was an aquarium. It flooded the room with its pale blue light. Creatures from almost every star, each planet, floating along. A symbol, perhaps, of the universe itself. The universe that the people beyond this space governed, keeping a peace her blood once sought to destroy.

She sank her anxious thoughts into idly watching the fish dart from left to right, weaving between each other, dodging and fighting—

That was when she saw two dark eyes watching a pale scalefish ducking through a thick shoal of brightly-coloured jewelfish. Distorted through the glass, but beautiful. Deep and ochre, a familiar sadness in their look. A whisper of a feeling, intangible, ghosted over her skin as she watched the man.

The jewelfish scattered, their scales shimmering in the water. Dappled light, shards of rainbow colours, moved across the man’s features as his eyes moved upwards and caught Rey’s. He straightened up, pressing his fingertips to the glass as they studied one another. They moved together in an odd sort of dance, trying to see one another through the creatures flitting to and fro. 

He had a large sloping nose, with a strong jaw and a thoughtful, intense stare. His full lips, naturally pinked, quirked with a glint of a smile. 

Rey blushed. She glanced towards the pale scalefish, now at the bottom of the aquarium, white and lost among the grey stone and sand.

His face was not like the heroic, generic faces she’d seen in holo-films depicting whirlwind romances as a child. He was far better than that.

Distantly, someone sang a melody. 

It wasn’t with study or expectation or fear that he watched her. It’s was if he understood. Without knowing her, her blood, her duty, he saw straight to the truth of her. 

Rey darted out of the bathroom, only to meet a crowd of Rutian Twi’leks, merry on ale. They danced joyfully and out of rhythm to the soft song.

“Ah! Miss Rey!” C-3PO’s tone, already familiar to her, called through the crowd. “Admiral Hux demands a word with you.”

She felt then, long thin fingers on her wrist. With a gasp, Rey turned her head.

The man tugged gently on her arm, giving a small nod. Asking her permission. It was an odd, elating feeling. The ability to make a decision, without advice, without caution from multiple people all at once.

Rey nodded.

Holding her tighter, he led her through the crush. Rey felt her heart pounding as she let herself be led through high society until finally, she faced the doors of a turbolift opening. She hurried inside.

The doors close behind him. He paused, breathing heavily and staring at the closed doors. From the back, Rey took the chance to study him. He had a broad, muscular form, dressed in embroidered clothes more suited to a Senator than a party guest. His hair was long, arranged into curls impossibly both wild and soft at once.

He stepped away from the doors, turning towards her.

“I’m sorry,” he started. “You looked like you needed somewhere… private.”

“I did,” Rey replied. A shiver of excitement moved up her spine as she took a single step forward.

“Can I ask your name?”

“Ben.”

Rey smiled. Not the proper demure smile her instructors would want her to give, but somehow she found herself smiling at him freely, genuinely.

“Ben,” she repeated, feeling the name roll around her tongue. It fit. Though she was taller than most, Ben loomed over her, those dark brown eyes watching her and sparkling as she smiled. His shoulders sank forwards, relaxing.

Rey held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ben.”

He offered out his own as if to bow his head, but it was barely a touch of their fingertips. Her mind, both their minds she sensed, were flooded. Images flashing by too quick to see, but their emotions lingered. Fear, concern, loss, longing…

Love.

In one image, she wore the rags of a desert rat and him, the black robes of the Dark side. 

In another, he held her tight as they shared a kiss, both bruised and bloodied among the rubble of some strange place she knows she’ll never know. Certainly not here, not in this life.

But this man was connected to her. He was important to her. He was someone she’d give her very being for, in another life.

Who held who, she doesn’t know, whenever she thinks back to this evening, this exact moment. Who kissed who, that’s another mystery. It was a clumsy, desperate, beautiful and passionate embrace, her lips against his—

When he pulled back, his eyes were glassy and his mouth tilted with a smile. She blinked, her head swimming, her fingers clutching the fabric of his coat.

“Ben Solo,” she murmured into the silence between them. His hand was spread out against her back, his eyes blazing.

“Rey… Rey Palpatine,” he replied. He spoke her family name like he was spitting out poison. It was an attempt to tell her, or even himself, that something bad had just passed between them. They should’ve been allies, at most. 

He should not have had his hand on her back and around her waist, she should not have been holding him like she was scared to lose him and they most definitely should not have kissed.

Rey reached up, capturing his mouth for a second time. The kiss this time was slower, her fingers reaching up to sink into his hair, to caress his cheek and the line of his jaw.

The turbolift doors opened, forcing them apart.

C-3PO stood there. If he saw anything, he said nothing.

“Admiral Hux requires a word, Miss Rey.”

Rey brushed her fingers against her sleeves, nodding. “Of course. I’ll just...”

She didn’t look back.

C-3PO hurried alongside her, escorting her through the throng towards a small, stout man with a flash of greying red hair on top of his head. His features were set into a dark frown. Beside him stood a younger man, his features strikingly similar.

“May I introduce to you, my son Armitage,” said Brendol Hux. 

Armitage Hux was a pale, thin man who looked down the length of his nose at Rey. His pale skin was offset by a shock of red hair and sleek black robes that looked more like a uniform than clothes for a society party. He bowed slightly too deeply, from the waist, and held out his hand.

“Miss Palpatine,” he said, her family name honey from his tongue. In his eyes, she saw a sharp shine.

She took his hand, letting him kiss it. His mouth was thinner than Ben’s, colder. His grip was unfeeling, holding her a little too tight. His eyes examined her like he was a farmer examining his stock. Ben looked at her in a way that was, well, that was like he was looking into every galaxy at once.

“I’m sorry,” Rey said, barely ten minutes into their conversation. She yawned softly, lifting her hand to her mouth to cover. “I’m tired. Could you take me back to my apartments?”

“Of course, Miss Palpatine.” He sighed, as if sympathetic. “It has been a strenuous evening, after all. All those Senators and their sons to meet.”

His growing smile was cold and cruel. Rey shivered. One thought beat around in her head like an ocean tide against rocks as he escorted her out to her ship.

He _ knew. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Rey finds herself caught in a web, she and Ben Solo grow closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's chapter is written by the fantastic [thewayofthetrashcompactor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarLily/pseuds/thewayofthetrashcompactor)!
> 
> Next week, the writer will be smol soul!

If Rey thought she’d been going about Hosnian Prime on pins and needles before the ball, it was nothing compared to the aftermath. She couldn’t go a day without seeing her betrothed and his knowing looks. Too often Hux came to her rooms first thing in the morning, looking as stiff and starched as if he slept hanging up in his closet with his severe suits to prevent any wrinkles. He took her to meetings with so many of the various senators and their staff that she struggled to keep up, though she’d been training for this for years. She kept waiting for Hux to confront her with whatever he’d seen at the ball, but instead he let it hang over her like an ominous cloud, the disdainful curl of his lips never letting her forget that he knew without him saying a word. 

Rey had tried to anticipate him this morning by dressing and preparing to leave her apartments on her own before he arrived. Somehow, Hux had anticipated her instead, showing up even earlier than usual at her door, still with every red hair stuck firmly in place despite the sun barely peeking over the horizon. She wondered, not for the first time, if he’d planted some kind of droid into her room, or sliced into the security feeds. She made a mental note to check later in the day. Hux inevitably dragged her from one meeting to another, keeping her from returning until late in the evenings. 

“It’s good to see you finally adjusting to a respectable schedule,” he said, looking over her outfit with barely concealed distaste. She’d chosen a lighter dress this morning, when she’d still thought she could take the day for herself. Still no trousers, but the gathered fabric that crossed her chest reminded her of the outfits she used to wear before coming to the Core, and the long, flowing skirt covered her boots. “If you’ve had trouble keeping up with customs in the Core, I would be happy to find you a protocol droid with updated software,” Hux said, his lip drawn back a sneer that had already become familiar to her. 

“Thank you for the kind offer,” Rey said through gritted teeth, reminding herself yet again why using the Force to choke her betrothed would not be a good idea as she stepped through the door, closing it behind her. Her own arguments seemed weaker by the day. 

Worse than Hux were the senators he took her to meet. Senator Apolin had echoed his sentiments about her wardrobe yesterday, suggesting that she adjust her style to better fit her new position, even when she’d worn one of her nicer dresses in a pale green color. She hadn’t known exactly what he’d meant by that, but the way he watched her as if expecting some show of power from her at any moment made her uneasy. He wasn’t the only one who talked to her like she was masterminding some plan. She didn’t know what Hux was up to, but she was starting to suspect that it was more than just polite introductions. 

“I’ve scheduled a meeting for us with Senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor this morning,” Hux said as he led her towards the Senate offices. “He’s the senior senator from Hevurion, and though publicly he may not feel ready to fully dedicate himself, privately he is an avid supporter.”

“Supporter?” Rey asked, trying to match Hux’s brisk pace. She was quick, but he somehow always managed to stay half a step ahead of her, as if making a point. 

Hux cast a sideways glance at her, his expression clearly conveying that she couldn’t possibly be that stupid. She tightened her jaw. Fine. She’d figure things out on her own. 

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the senator’s office. Hux knocked sharply at the door when they arrived, and it immediately opened for them. A droid ushered them through the receiving room, letting them know that the senator was waiting for them. 

Senator Ro-Kiintor rose from his desk as they entered, setting aside the datapad he’d been reading. A thin man with no hair, he stood taller than both of them. His eyes lit on Rey, watching her with fervent intensity. 

“Armitage, a pleasure to see you again,” he said, his voice smooth and pleasant as he gave a nod to Hux, who stood aside for the senator to greet her. “And Lady Palpatine. I am honored.” 

His eyes never left her as he took her hand in his, bowing over it. “We have been waiting diligently for your family’s return.”

Rey pulled her hand back, ice filling her at the relish he took in her name. 

“Thank you. But I have no intent of restoring my family’s legacy.” Her expression hardened as the senator drew back, nonplussed. 

“There’s no need for subterfuge here, my lady. We are all friends of the First Order, are we not?” He looked at Hux, whose lips had pressed into an even thinner line than usual. 

“Pardon my betrothed," he said stiffly. "She has yet to understand fully the scope of our work." Hux's hand clamped down on Rey's arm, but she shook him off too, her mind whirling. It wasn't the first time one of the senators they'd visited had declared themselves friends of the First Order, but she'd thought it a figure of speech to express their closeness. 

Something about the way they said it though, combined with the emphasis they put on her name… various oddities she'd noticed over the past few days started to fit together.

"Don't I?" she asked, turning on Hux. "Perhaps you'd better explain it then, before you take me to see any more friends of your _order_."

Hux's cold eyes glared at her but she refused to back down. 

"The workings of the Order are no concern of yours," he hissed. A jolt ran through Rey, her suspicions confirmed. There was some kind of plot, and they'd put her at the heart of it. Her spine stiffened. 

"Really? Then why am I here?" she demanded, fists curling at her sides. 

"Some appreciate the comfort of your name and your presence. Though they hardly seem worth the trouble of listening to your mouth." Hux smirked at her, and she itched to punch the expression off of him. 

"I will not be used!" she snapped. Anger burned through her. No betrothal was worth this. "Not by you or anyone else. Find yourself another figurehead." 

She turned and stormed out.

She didn’t stop once she left the senator’s office, her rage fueling her as she strode down the hall and turned into another wing, muttering under her breath as she went. It took several minutes for her to calm down enough to look around and realize she had no idea where she’d ended up. She had a knack for directions, but the Senate offices were designed to look similar throughout. She sighed and leaned against the wall.

She knew better than to think that Hux would leave her alone after their fight. He clearly had loftier plans than she’d expected. She needed to figure out her own plan, quickly. She’d been trained for her place here, but he had the experience and the resources needed to navigate life in the Core, including his years of connections. She only knew the people he introduced her to, people who wanted her for her name. 

A pair of dark eyes surfaced from her memory, and she realized that wasn’t entirely true. She’d only met Ben Solo briefly, but she trusted her instincts and the Force, and they both told her that he was nothing like Hux. At the very least, he had no interest in her for her family, and that was enough for her right now. She walked back down the hall until she found a droid and flagged it down. 

“Excuse me, could you tell me where to find Ben Solo’s office?”

‘Senator Solo of Chandrila’, as the droid addressed him, turned out to have an office near the top level of the Senate building. In the lift up, Rey couldn’t help but remember their meeting at the ball. Her heart beat faster as she thought of his mouth on hers, the almost magnetic way they’d been drawn together. The way the Force had reacted when they’d touched meant their meeting was no accident. She found her hand absentmindedly raising to touch her lips and lowered it again with a flush. 

Rey stood outside Senator Solo’s door before gathering herself to knock. From inside, his deep voice called for her to come in. She walked through, until she stood in the open door of his office. 

Seeing him again nearly knocked the breath out of her. She’d had the thought while walking over that her memory must have made him seem more than he was, but the impact of seeing him in person was so much stronger. 

His dark waves fell around his face like he’d been running his hands through them, framing his distinctive features that immediately turned to her as she entered. He looked just as affected as she felt, and she experienced that rush of connection between them again, drawing her towards him. She barely even noticed taking another step into the room. 

“Ben,” she breathed. Something like relief came over her, and she knew she’d made the right choice in coming to him. 

“Rey,” he said, standing so abruptly that he knocked a holopad from his desk. He flushed and bent to retrieve it. Rey was so focused on him that she didn’t notice the other person in the room until Leia stood as well. Rey nearly jumped as she turned to greet her. 

“I take it you’ve met my son,” the older woman said with a wry smile, looking between the two of them with a speculative eye. 

Ben sighed. “Rey, my mother, Senator Leia Organa of Alderaan.”

Leia waved him off. 

“I think we’re all familiar here.” She wrapped Rey’s hand in hers, her weathered skin pressing warm against Rey’s. “It’s good to see you, Rey. I was hoping to visit you earlier, but that Hux fellow kept insisting you were busy, and I couldn’t get through to you. I was going to go to your rooms myself if I didn’t see you around soon enough.”

Rey stiffened. “I don’t plan on letting him decide my schedule anymore,” she told Leia firmly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Ben watching her in interest. 

Leia nodded with satisfaction. “Good. You don’t need that kind of deadweight around.” She glanced over at her son again. “I take it, that's why you’re here now?”

Rey felt her cheeks heat. “I—”

“Mom,” Ben snapped. Leia levelled him with a look and he dropped his gaze to his desk. She turned back to Rey.

“I’ll get out of your way then. If there’s anything you need, dear, please let me know.” 

She gave Rey’s hand another squeeze before sweeping from the office, leaving the faint scent of flowers in her wake. 

Ben sighed, and Rey turned to face him. 

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, waving a hand at the door. 

Rey shook her head. “Don’t apologize.” 

Ben gestured for her to sit, and she did. He copied her. 

“I didn’t know she was your mother,” she said, wondering how she’d missed that. The similarities between the two were clear now that she knew to look, though Ben towered over his petite mother. 

Ben’s lips quirked, and she had another flash of remembrance that made her heart skip a beat. “You’re likely the only one.” 

Rey winced, and Ben hurried to reassure her. 

“Not a bad thing! It’s nice to meet someone who doesn’t already know my parents for once.”

Rey felt a flash of sympathy. “I can understand that,” she muttered. Ben’s dark eyes met hers, and the spark of their connection flared again. 

“I believe you can,” he murmured. He stood and walked around the desk like he couldn’t bear to have it between them. “I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner. Things have been tense in the Senate lately.” 

He paused and gave her a look that felt as if it saw into her soul, revealing all her struggles the past few days. With how their connection had acted before, she wouldn’t be surprised. “As I suspect you’ve noticed.” 

She nodded and stood as well, bringing herself into his space. He inhaled, a short breath, and her gaze flicked back down to his lips. When she met his eyes again, she saw she wasn’t the only one struggling to focus. They both half-reached for each other, fingers brushing. “I think,” she started, feeling herself lean in towards him. “You may be just the person I need, Ben Solo.”

His eyes glittered as they met hers, and his soft lips tilted up in a smile. “I think you may be the same for me, Rey.”

With Ben’s help, she started setting up her own meetings with senators she hadn’t yet met. The difference between him and Hux became apparent on her first day after her fight with her betrothed, when she woke up on her own time to a message from Ben asking her to let him know when she wanted him to introduce her to some of the senators he knew. She scheduled time with him later that day and began making her own plans. 

Early in their meetings, she quickly discovered another difference between the two men: Ben didn’t just introduce her to senators that supported him, but also to Senators he seemed to have a confrontational relationship with. Which seemed to be more than a few. 

One of the first senators he introduced her to was Senator Casterfo from Riosa, who Rey found charming but who Ben seemed to have some kind of grudge against. The more of Ben’s contacts she met, the more she learned about not only the Senate, but him as well. 

Ben combined the stereotypical arrogance of Chandrilans with the respect due to the descendents of Alderaan in an intelligent but brooding package. The other senators respected him, some only for his family, but Rey got the impression that Ben was close to very few of them. She suspected that shouldn’t satisfy her as much as it did, that his openness was for her alone, but some part of her relished that there was a part of him just for her.

Ben didn’t go with her to every meeting, but they somehow found each other most days, either at her office or his. Before long, she found herself invited to the Organa apartments in the capital for dinner, then for lunch, or evenings after they’d finished work. She grew accustomed to the sight of Leia and her droids, though she never got over the small shock of seeing the respected senator relaxing in a casual robe.

She grew so used to spending time in Ben’s space, that the appearance of another man one evening made her stop in her tracks. 

The man stared at her from the other end of the hallway, clearly as off put by her presence as she was by his. Rey stood her ground as he strode towards her, his piercing blue eyes examining her with a look she felt in the Force.

“So,” he grumbled into his beard. “It’s you, is it?”

She blinked, then glared at him. “Is it?”

He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Yes,” he agreed, then walked off as swiftly as he’d appeared. 

Rey stared after him, then shook her head and continued on her path to Ben’s room. He had to know who the stranger was. 

Ben opened his door at her knock, greeting her with the warm smile that never failed to make her heart beat faster. 

“I was wondering where you got to,” he said as he pulled her into his room, closing the door behind her. He leaned in for a kiss, and she met him, unable to help herself. His lips pressed warm and soft against hers before she forced herself to pull back. 

He looked down at her, confused, and she started to explain. “There was—”

A knock at the door interrupted her. Ben squeezed his eyes shut, as if that would make the person on the other side go away, but the knock repeated. Definitely Leia, who would not be dissuaded. Ben sighed. “One moment,” he told her. She nodded and stepped back as he opened the door. 

“Ben,” Leia said, an odd note of relief in her tone. Rey frowned. “Your uncle is here, he wants to talk to you.” 

His uncle? Was that who she’d met? She’d never pictured the legendary Luke Skywalker as quite so… bushy. 

“Can’t he wait?” Ben asked, nearly whining. Rey would have laughed if she wasn’t still wondering what his uncle had come back to speak to him about and what he’d meant by what he’d said to her. 

Leia hesitated, then asked, “Is Rey here?”

“No,” Ben said, far too quickly. He was a terrible liar. “I just was working on something I wanted to finish.”

Leia hummed in polite agreement. “When you can then. Luke is…” she paused again, sounding much more unsure than Rey was used to hearing from her, “worried.”

Ben nodded his agreement. “I’ll see him. In just a bit.”

“Okay.” Rey couldn’t see Leia from her angle, but she watched as Ben bent down and heard the rustle of Leia’s robes as she drew him into a hug. “Be careful,” she said softly, barely loud enough for Rey to hear. Ben pulled back, a slight frown creasing his brow, but Rey heard the sound of footsteps as his mother walked back down the hall.

Ben turned back to her, smiling, but Rey couldn’t shake a sudden feeling of foreboding.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben encounter an obstacle in the road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week's chapter is written by the wonderful smol soul! Next week's writer, wrapping up this Romeo and Juliet-inspired saga, will be [LonelyLavenderBones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyLavenderBones/works).

While the prospect of hiding like a scared child sounded rather appealing at the moment, Rey knew better on how to make a good impression. Luke, being rather well known for his use of the Force, would know of her presence one way or another, so she may as well show that she was strong, well balanced, and rather unlike her betrothed. She stood strong, an opposingly soft look on her face, as Ben sighed, checking to make sure she was alright before opening the door and inviting in his uncle.

“Good to see you, kid.” Luke nodded at Ben before reluctantly reaching out a hand. Ben looked into the man's eyes, calculating, before extending his own. Luke promptly turned the attention to Rey, gesturing in her direction. He never took his eyes off her as he asked Ben, “who might this be?”

“This is Rey P—” he caught himself, not finishing her name. Luke didn’t seem to miss this slip, however. “This is Rey, she’s a good friend of mine.” 

“Perhaps Rey here should wait in the hall while we catch up?” He glanced at her, not a hint of warmth in his cold steely eyes. “I have some things I need to discuss with you. Urgently,” he added, tone firm. He wasn’t asking as much as he was requesting. 

“Mr Skywalker, if I may, I would like to say that it is nice to finally meet you. Ben and I were discussing some rather urgent business ourselves before your arrival. I would not mind stepping out for a moment, but I hope you can understand that I would like to finish this business afterwards, as it is quite pressing.”

Rey knew that she had little choice, but simply put, she could not stand being talked about while she was merely feet away. She would do things of her own accord, even if it just so happened to follow the will of those around her. Even if it came off as rather prickly, she would not be diminished to a frightful thing that could be easily pushed around.

Luke looked her up and down once more in response, as if evaluating the best approach to rid himself of her presence. She made it easy though, walking at a brisk pace past him, head held high. 

Ben sighed away the tension and shut the door behind her.

“Alright, what is it that needs to be discussed so urgently?” Ben asked while gesturing Luke to make himself comfortable. Luke walked past and stood in the spot Rey had occupied just a minute ago.

“As it so happens, it’s the girl.” At this, Ben whipped around, looking first towards the door, then back to his uncle standing before him. “You are not to trust her.” 

He spoke firmly, intensity in his eyes as he watched his nephew struggle for words. 

Ben paced for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts, fears, and anger. Luke hadn’t met her for more than a few moments before casting judgment, though it seemed his mind was made up before he had even laid eyes on her. “Go on. I know you want to tell me why. Just tell me.” 

“Her heritage, boy.” Luke sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as if annoyed with Ben. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you have to. She is dangerous. She is not to be trusted, darkness runs in her blood and that could put us all in danger.”

“She isn’t like that.” Ben spoke quickly, almost frantic. “She isn’t proud of her family, and she doesn’t dwell on it either. Rey is better than all that.”

“Maybe that is how she wants you to see it, but deep down, she has that same darkness as the rest of her lineage. I have no doubts about it, not one.” He strode to the door. “Stay away from her, boy. I mean it.” 

With that, Luke was gone, and Rey walked in not a moment later.

“You know, I had always hoped I could meet him one day. He always inspired me a little bit, but I didn’t expect him to be so—” Thinking better of insulting his family, Rey cut herself off with a drawn out sigh. 

“Prickly. I know.” As it turned out, she didn’t have to finish her thought. Ben seemed to feel the same way. But he was also hiding something from Rey, and she could see it.    
  


“I know you well enough to know that you’re keeping something from me. You seem troubled.” 

With this, Ben pulled at his dark locks, not wanting to look her in the eye. He couldn’t tell her what had just transpired, but he couldn’t just leave her in the dark. It seemed an impossible situation. There was no good way to take care of things. Either he could stay with her, following his heart, and get disowned by his family, or he could leave her, which he would regret probably forever, and have his family to console him. He was torn, and she could feel the struggle within him from across the room, almost palpable. 

Lightly, she pressed a hand to his shoulder, not knowing what had him so shaken up. He pulled her in close, arms wrapping around her waist, eyes finding hers and desperately searching there for something, but for what she didn’t know. All she could see in his was pain. After a moment, he reluctantly pulled away, turning slightly away from her. 

“I need some time to think.” His words were careful, and his tone gentle. “Alone.”

Rey spent the rest of the evening pondering the events from earlier. Could Ben be in trouble? Was something happening with his family? All she wished was that he had trusted her enough to tell her, but she understood that if he didn’t, it wasn’t a light matter.

Meanwhile, Ben was receiving a painful follow-up lecture from Leia. Though she was much more gentle than Luke had been with the situation, it still hurt. His own mother was telling him he couldn’t be with the girl he had adored, the girl who brought warmth and a sense of safety to his heart.  Even in the darkest times he had, he could count on her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben makes a decision, Rey gives an answer and the Force is at last, in balance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A delayed update (apologies!) but it's here! This final chapter was written by the brilliant [LonelyLavenderBones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyLavenderBones/pseuds/LonelyLavenderBones)!

_You’re the problem, Rey. The source of this disturbance…_

The thought woke Rey from her fitful sleep. A week had passed since she had last seen Ben in his office after he had spoken with his odd uncle. They hadn’t seen each other and without him, Rey once again felt isolated in the viper’s den that was the Galactic Senate while she balanced carefully under Hux’s watchful eye.

Whatever had been said between nephew and uncle had clearly shook Ben. The turmoil in his gaze had only been matched by the Force twisting around him, searching for an answer to the problem that had been posited.

With piercing blue eyes Luke Skywalker had seen her so clearly even as Ben clumsily tried to hide her heritage. As if to answer the question that had forever haunted her, she was marked as her grandfather’s heir with a single glance.

_So, it’s you, is it?_

A shiver ran up her spine. The expectancy in the old Jedi master’s voice, determining who she was before she ever got a chance to utter a word to him.

In the dim light of her apartments, Rey pulled on a loose robe and walked out to her balcony as the knot in her stomach affirmed that she wouldn’t be falling back asleep anytime soon. She closed her eyes, listening to the bustling of the cosmopolitan planet even at the late hour. Hovercars rumbled above her as millions of people lived their lives unaware of how everything was unraveling around her.

It made her feel small as if she were just a speck of light in the night sky, and somehow, that was comforting if even only for a moment.

Breathing, she searched for her center, trying to push away the doubt and the heartache that came with it.

The image of Ben obfuscated by jewelfish came to mind and she wished she could go back to being strangers. Not defined by blood, or by the Force. Her heartache reached out into the Force for serenity only to be met with a kindred suffering.

“Rey.”

Rey’s eyes snapped open to find Ben standing a few feet away from her balcony, balancing himself easily on a hoverboard. It had become a familiar sight in the last few weeks prior to his uncle’s arrival. He looked as dashing as he ever did and after their week apart, she almost hated him for it.

Almost.

“What are you doing here, Senator Solo?” Rey asked, coolly. “Didn’t you want to be alone—?”

“Marry me.”

The words stunned her into silence, playing over in a quiet loop as her mind tried to sort out their very meaning. Her head already began to shake as a dozen reasons why it was impossible came to mind. From her betrothal to Admiral Hux to their opposing bloodlines and his family’s disapproval, she knew it was impossible.

“I’ve lived my entire life defined by my family’s legacy, Rey, and I know you have been trapped by yours,” Ben said, his words holding a careful conviction as if he had spent the week preparing this speech. “Living in the shadows of titans, trapped by a past that we need to let die so we can forge a better future. For ourselves and the good of the galaxy. I can’t see that future without you Rey. I love you just as you are. So, marry me.”

He leaned forward, coming closer to her window as he offered her his hand. There was something familiar in the gesture, from the way he extended his hand to the desperation that showed in his dark eyes. For a moment, she could have sworn she smelt ash and bloodshed, but then the sensation faded as soon as it came.

“ _Please_.”

She took his hand, and at his touch any hesitance that was there dissipated. Her answer was a kiss pressed firmly on his lips, and a plan to take a freighter off of Hosnian Prime by the week’s end. 

*** * * * ***

Their freighter had reached planetside as the midafternoon sun loomed over Takodana’s castle, the imposing nature of the ruins briefly making Rey question Ben’s claim that the woman who owned the place would help them and that it was a safe haven for those seeking refuge. There was a feeling of misplaced nostalgia that made her pause at the steps at the entrance, but the lively bustle within chased away the feeling. Soon, they found themselves sitting across from the owner who eyed Ben with much curiosity.

“You’re brash like your father,” Maz Kanata growled, her eyes large from beneath her spectacles as she pinched Ben’s chin with her tiny hand. “I thought you were supposed to be like the lovely Senator Organa, wise and commanding. Though, I suppose she was a little foolish when it came to love in her own right, marrying that scoundrel.”

Rey watched as Ben’s lips quirked from under Maz’s inquisition. As she finished her examination, she gave him a satisfied smirk. Whatever she had been looking for in his face, she had found it.

“But I suppose we’re creating our own destinies at this moment, hm?” the little woman asked as she turned her attention to Rey. “After all, what else would spur the respected Senator of Chandrila and the granddaughter of the former emperor to show up at my doorstep? I could have sworn that I’ve heard whispers that you were betrothed, Miss Palpatine, but not to our Senator Solo here. You do realize that no matter how far you run, the galaxy has eyes and ears. No doubt your Admiral has noticed your disappearance.”

“No doubt that he has,” Rey agreed as she gave Ben’s hand a squeeze. She remembered back to the night that she had met Ben, their time spent together in the lift, and the Admiral’s knowing remarks. “Which is why I think we should hurry with the ceremony. Our minds won’t change, Miss Kanata.”

Maz’s lips pressed together as she breathed a heavy sigh through her nose.

“Fine,” she waved a hand in the air. “I think it’s madness, but… I do love a bit of drama from time to time. Who knows? Maybe this will heal any old wounds between your families and put to rest the memory of the Empire for good. The heir of the Skywalker line and the heir of Palpatine. Fate is funny like that from time to time. Come, let’s do this privately.”

They followed her out to the lush forest that surrounded the ruins, following the woman down paths that made Rey’s skin prickle at the familiarity of the path. They had been down this path before, not as two lovers but as predator and prey. Memories of the Force still lingered, even from events that would never play between them.

Amidst the old etchings of the Force, there was something else there lingering in the woods. A sense of fear tangled in the air, not from anyone in their wedding party, but from someone else. Rey glanced over her shoulder, expecting to find a pair of piercing blue eyes staring back at her only to see the thick Takodana canopy that surrounded them.

After nearly a half hour of walking, they found themselves in the orange glow of sunset, standing in a clearing in front of Maz. “Kneel down for me, so I can look you both in the eye. You both make a tall pair.”

Rey shared a nervous glance with Ben before they both appeased the old woman as she pushed her spectacles onto her forehead, gazing at them both with her tiny eyes. They knelt down, standing on their knees, still a full head taller than the alien. Without the glass magnifying her gaze, Maz studied the pair one more time as if to make her final decision. 

“Clasp hands,” she instructed as she dug through her pockets before pulling out a piece of twine. “Some things are best done simply as you both seem like you want this marriage to happen as soon as possible.”

Rey intertwined her fingers with Ben’s looking at him as her anchor in that moment, and she could see as he peered at her from beneath his dark locks that he was looking at her to be his. His features seemed softer in the dimming light as the warmth of the Force passed between them, the beautiful implausibility of this choice becoming more solid as Maz wrapped their hands in twine and murmured ceremonial words to bind them.

Ben Solo was always hers, and Rey Palpatine was always his. In this lifetime and a thousand more, she was sure that they would find one another.

Maz cleared her throat, pulling the pair from their shared reverie. Rey would later admit that she had never heard a woman said after she had started binding them, focused solely on the man before her and how the Force surrounded them both.

She blinked, pulling her gaze to the little woman who rolled her eyes and gave them a smirk.

“ _I said_ , the pair of you are now husband and wife… and you can kiss—”

Rey moved first, unable to wait for Maz to finish; she eagerly brought her lips to his as her free hand moved to his cheek gingerly, his hand wrapping around to the crook of her back. The kiss lingered between them only to be broken as a raw sense of dread washed over her.

Ben pulled her close, shielding her with his massive frame as his head snapped to the shadows. Maz never moved, staying still as she watched the scene play out.

The emerald glow of a lightsaber flickered from the shadows illuminating the features of a frightened old man. Had he felt how the Force had brought them together? How deeply they were intertwined, as if they were truly two halves of one being.

_Was that what frightened him_ , Rey wondered. Not just her grandfather’s tainted legacy that flowed within her veins, but the fact that his nephew, the Skywalker heir, was so intrinsically connected to her?

“Uncle Luke,” Ben spoke with an edge of warning. A moment passed between the two men as the dim buzz of the old master’s sword seemed to roar above the quiet night songs that the bird had begun to sing. Rey waited for Luke to make his move, prepared to fight with all the knowledge that Anga had passed down to her.

Instead, there was no fight. Luke merely stood there, hesitating; his eyes locked with Ben’s before finally looking at her. The suspicion he had held on Hosnian Prime was gone, and all she saw in the man was shame.

Like a fleeting shadow, the moment passed, and Luke dimmed his blade before receding back into the woods. The fear that Luke had felt disappeared as did any trace of the man.

“Ben—”

“He’s leaving,” he said as he pressed his face into her hair, breathing her in as he brought his clasped hand over his heart. She could almost swear that she felt it breaking. “He won’t be back.”

“I’m sorry.” She placed a soft kiss to his cheek, wishing to spare the pain of this betrayal.

“Never be sorry,” he replied in a whisper as Rey let him hold her tightly. “Not for this.”

Their hands still bound together, Ben brought them up to their feet before looking back down at Maz. “You offer one free night of safe haven at the castle, don’t you?”

Maz nodded sagely as she started to walk back down the path towards the old castle. “Enjoy your first night together. You’ve just faced your first of many battles.”

As Maz disappeared down the path, Ben leaned down to catch Rey’s lips once more, squeezing their bound hands tightly. Rey knew that as long as they were together they’d survive Hux, the senators, and anything else the galaxy could throw their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, from all of us, for reading and commenting. This little collab was so much fun to do, and we hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to check out the fics of all the authors in this collab, including [thewayofthetrashcompactor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarLily/pseuds/thewayofthetrashcompactor),  
> [OccasionallyCreative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OccasionallyCreative) and [TazWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TazWren) .
> 
> And, as always, remember to leave a comment and/or kudos letting us know what you think!


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